Gerry Ide: I apologize for flaming you last night.
I don't have good luck with the search function because:
1. It doesn't return enough
<u>context</u> to learn the topic of a particular post. I notice that it deletes certain words like articles and abbreviates others, I can't make any sense out the lines it returns, I have to open up each one, find the post on the page and read it to determine if it suits my needs.
2. The search
<u>prioritizes results</u> based on the number of "hits" in a particular page stored in the vault, so for instance, if I search on "hour meter" and someone has written a post on voltmeters that generated several responses with the word "meter" on the same page, it will come up ahead of a page with a very pertinent post of an "hour meter" in it. When I try searching for a phrase, I'm frustrated because, for some reason, the search function and I have different ideas on how to build a phrase. The long and short of it is that what you find is "creative" searching I find "arduous" and unproductive. I really don't want to have to search for something hidden behind a dimly understood, awkward interface, when I can leave it in a place where I can find it when I need it WITHOUT searching.
By-the-way, your search function will turn up my posting in the Machine Shop if you include all sections in your searching, so its not like I'm keeping information hidden from you.
3. The
<u>software</u> used in this Forum also does not allow us to title our posts, nor does it allow us to add "tags" to them, so again, the only choices available to me are "post-and-search," "post-and-copy" to my hard drive for personal use and future sharing (a method which works only as long as I manage to keep my machine running and maintain a backup of my data [I recently lost access to my stored IH/CC data for over 90 days, and it could well have been forever]), --OR-- the path I chose, start a new thread, which I can't do on the Main Forum, so I started one where I thought best, in the Machine Shop.
I'm not sure about the
FAQ route for this project. First of all, we're not talking about a routine maintenance or service procedure like adjusting your hydrostatic transmission or swapping out your voltage regulator, we're talking about information that an unscrupulous person could use to break the law. As Charlie posted, it is illegal to reset an hour meter on agricultural equipment for the purpose of misrepresenting the number of hours on it. I'm not sure there SHOULD be a FAQ on it, because frankly the question is not "F"requently asked, it only comes up occasionally. Jeff asked about it, and I remember someone else posting about it a few years ago.
Regarding your suggestions on repair and resetting: I will have to try the careful application of
<u>kerosene</u> to see it would free up the works of my meter. I can't just drop the whole thing in for a "sonic" cleaning because (1) the face is riveted to the movement, and (2) the electric portion is embedded in plastic and attached to the back of the movement. The plastic portion might be removed though, I will have to investigate further. I think it simply forms the final layer and is secured to the three "posts" just like the other "plates" in the movement.
The
<u>hands</u> could probably be moved as you say, but I would let someone with more knowledge and tools perform the operation. I own a timepiece with hands that simply won't stay attached to the stem no matter how I crimp them, I used to play around with clocks as a child, and I know they can be "ruined" by overly aggressive manipulation.
Jeff Baker: After pondering your question about re-assembly, I realized that if I had it to do over again, I would try to cut the bezel at 90 degrees, parallel to the LENGTH of the housing. That way, the unit could be re-assembled with a small screw-clamp or other cinching mechanism. It wouldn't be "original," but if done properly it wouldn't be too noticeable and the cognoscenti would realize that it had been reset, so you couldn't be accused of "tampering" in such as way as to mis-represent the age of the tractor. (An enterprising person might even come up with a way of soldering the aluminum outer ring.)
Just a thought.
